Paralympic NT Beats Portugal 3-0

Longest Serving Player Josh McKinney Announces Retirement

Jun 7, 2014

BARCELONA, Spain (June 7, 2014) – The U.S. Paralympic National Team won its second match of the 9th 7-a-Side Championship 3-0 against Portugal on Saturday with its longest serving member Josh McKinney scoring the game’s final goal in his penultimate match with the Paralympic program.

With the victory, the U.S. PNT (2-0-0; 6 pts) has set itself up to win the tournament on Sunday with a win against England, which would provide an emotional farewell for McKinney, who announced his retirement from international competition today.

“It’s been an honor to wear the crest and play for the U.S. for 19 years,” McKinney said. “I will always be grateful for U.S. Soccer, my coaches and team mates all who are family to me. I look forward to seeing the continued growth and success of the Paralympic Team. I’d especially like to thank my parents and two brothers for helping become the player I am today.”

McKinney scored 81 goals in 124 games over his 19-year career with the U.S. PNT. For the game against Portugal, the entire U.S. team got their wrists taped in support of Josh as this has been his custom for every game since he started playing soccer. At the end of the game was given a heartfelt send-off by all in attendance.

Kevin Hensley scored the first two goals of the match for the USA and goalkeeper Gavin Sibayan helped marshal the defense to record a second straight clean sheet; the U.S. PNT beat Tunisia 5-0 in its first game of the tournament on Thursday.